By Kyle Golik
As Maryland’s season came to a crushing close on Thanksgiving weekend at Beaver Stadium Saturday with a 44-7 loss to No. 4 Penn State, who clinched berths in the College Football Playoff and Big Ten Championship Game, Maryland head coach Mike Locksley was wondering what gifts his family and Penn State’s James Franklin can exchange with Christmas upcoming.
Locksley was sarcastic in his response when pressed about his tense exchange with Franklin during postgame when he began to mention the upcoming holidays.
“I asked about his family, Christmas cards, address, all those things,” Locksley began saying in a sarcastic tone in a cold, cramped, visitor’s media room.
Locksley then ratcheted up the temperature about when he thought about true freshman Penn State wide receiver Tyseer Denmark’s touchdown reception from backup quarterback Beau Pribula as time expired.
First of MANY TDs to come for true freshman Tyseer Denmark pic.twitter.com/DsEEgHvCM1
— Zane Brancefield (@ZaneBrancefield) December 1, 2024
More Sports News
“Bulls*** is what it was,” Locksley said in an elevated tone. “ I respect the game. I got a lot of respect for James, his program. I think it was bulls***.”
When Franklin was pressed about it to close his media session, Franklin’s reply was just as animated.
“I get it. At the end of the game, we throw a touchdown,” Franklin began. “My job is to put the threes and fours in the game. But when the threes and fours get to go in the game, they get to play football. Those guys deserve to play football.”
As Franklin continued to break down the situation, he pointed out two key things that Locksley wouldn’t answer for or was pressed on, “Your ones are in the game. You’re trying to score. We’re trying to score. On top of that, you’re playing cover zero, if you don’t want – play cover two. So I’m good with it. And on top of that, there’s also a change in college football, we are trying to play as long as we can make the playoffs and be seeded as high as possible and scoring as many points and a point differential matters. All that matters, and if you don’t get that, it’s really not my problem. So W. 1-0. I’m good with it, anybody that’s not, that’s their problem.”
Saturday in college football seemed to be a day the questioning of sportsmanship came up with a bunch of fights over flag planting – which in my mind, if you have the audacity to humiliate your opponent in that matter to stick a flag on their soil, you better be ready to fight. If you are a coach, you allow that sort of behavior, you better resign yourself there is going to be a brawl.
Why James Franklin is right to play to the final whistle
Some of Franklin’s most ardent critics will use this opportunity that he is running up the score and he is beating up on an inferior opponent. To an extent, that is true but in another vein, those generalizations miss key context to the situations.
The college football season is getting longer and has become more of a battle of attrition. Does it serve Penn State or any other school well to put in their depth to take a knee? Penn State is in position for a potential playoff run and have dealt with a litany of injuries, the game against Maryland was long decided and Franklin wanted to empty his bench to get his depth meaningful reps.
With Locksley realizing he is losing out on a bunch of extra practices because Maryland would not be bowl eligible, he was a willing participant to continue playing the game. Locksley needed to know what he has going into next year because there are no more practices. This is the game within the game. It was a competition to the very end, what we all desire as media and fans, we knew Penn State won but we got to see what Maryland’s top players were fighting for against Penn State’s reserves.
This leads into the next point, if Maryland has a bunch of their top players in the game, whether starters or second-string talent and Penn State is scraping the bottom of their bench to get meaningful reps, you would hope Maryland would have a pulse to fight to the end. When a coach like Locksley dismisses competition to the very end, that is a core value that cannot be compromised because when it does, you are a losing program. It’s no surprise Maryland sits at 4-8.
The last part in Franklin’s speech or rant, not sure what to classify it and don’t want to be corrected by him again, goes back to the fatal flaw in college football that enables this behavior. When you don’t have an objective criteria on how teams make the playoffs and it is subjective where you can legitimately tell an undefeated Power 4 team they aren’t invited or have mythical seating because you need to blow teams out, you need style points, and this invites problems.
I honestly feel the Power 4 should break off from the Group of 5 and have their own 16-team playoff. The top four teams from each conference make the playoff, where the conference championship games are the games to get to the final four. The Big Ten champion to the Rose, SEC to Sugar, ACC to Peach, and Fiesta hosts the Big XII. You then have Orange and Cotton host semifinal games and the final in a neutral site.
It all makes too much sense, so it will never happen. You think those in this invitational want to give up their free hotel continental breakfast and lunch buffets, the recliners that have to lay in while they have college football streamed right to them, and then get to make up the tournament they want?
Ultimately, Locksley’s frustration is shortsighted and those that agree with him don’t have the bigger picture in question. Maryland wanted to compete to the very end and have something to build on for next year. When they failed their coach had a temper tantrum, Franklin had to be the adult. You don’t want Penn State to score, stop them. If you want to stop seeing style points play a factor, you got to eliminate it.
The problem is when you make it that clearly defined that is when people in college football typically fight it until they have no other option – see the NIL, transfer portal, and the playoff itself for examples. Locksley has a voice, instead of calling out Franklin on BS that is encouraged for playoff-contending teams, call the BS to change where it matters, especially not in a freezing cold visitor’s media room in Beaver Stadium at the end of November.
